Applicants for the receptionist job have come in --- over the past two weeks.
Hi all,

I saw this question when taking a toeic test.

Applicants for the receptionist job have come in --- over the past two weeks.
A=openly
B=greatly
C=exactly
D=steadily

The answer is D but I can't understand why. A &C seem acceptable to me too.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks all in advance.

Question

Applicants for the receptionist job have come in --- over the past two weeks.
Hi all,

I saw this question when taking a toeic test.

Applicants for the receptionist job have come in --- over the past two weeks.
A=openly
B=greatly
C=exactly
D=steadily

The answer is D but I can't understand why. A &C seem acceptable to me too.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks all in advance.

Answer

Definitely D. None of the other answers make sense.

Steadily means it is a regular flow, like a stream of water. 5 applications came in today, 5 yesterday, 4 the day before, 5 the day before that. This is a steady stream of applications.

Applicants could come in openly, I suppose, but it's such an odd adjective for this context. It means they are coming in eager and ready to do anything, perhaps. But how I wrote it is clearer.

Greatly or exactly do not apply to this context. Applicants do not come in greatly nor exactly.

Answers · 2

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